Although officials from the Lamar County School District have been dealing with a significant outbreak of influenza in a number of schools, the amount of cases appears to be going down as attendance has started coming back toward normal levels.
District superintendent Steven Hampton said the flu seems to have started about three weeks ago at Purvis High School and Purvis Middle School, while mostly skipping the younger grades such as elementary and kindergarten. Cases of the virus then popped up in Oak Grove schools and it has now made its way to schools in Sumrall.
“We started seeing attendance issues (in Purvis) and checking into it, and it was kids testing (positive) for flu,” Hampton said. “It kind of ran its course through there, and … it was only a matter of time before we saw it in Sumrall.
“At this time, we don’t see a huge drop in attendance – we’re still running above 90 percent at all schools in Sumrall. But it’s kind of one of those things where we could see the wave coming and which way it’s going.”
To help prevent further outbreaks, school staff are using water bottle fillers rather than drinking fountains. The fillers were purchased with government funds issued during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re still doing sanitation practices like washing hands, cleaning surfaces and those things,” Hampton said. “We’re doing everything we can to mitigate the spread throughout our schools as we move forward.”
Hampton did note that the first cases of flu seem to have started after homecoming activities in Purvis, followed by the same circumstances in Oak Grove.
“They had homecoming dances and all that stuff, so if I had to put a finger on it, it would be more the social events outside of school, where students are interacting,” he said. “That’s my guess.
“It’s highly correlated to homecoming and events from homecoming.”
As it stands, officials are unable to tell exactly how many students have been affected by the flu.
“We don’t have a way of tracking that,” Hampton said. “They just come back with a medical excuse … and we don’t have a way of putting flu or cold or COVID or anything into our student information system.”
The good news is that the virus seems to be on its way out.
“I think we’ve weathered the storm in most of our district,” Hampton said. “We’re just waiting to see (what happens) with Sumrall; I think it’s just a matter of time before it makes its way through.”
Officials from Sumrall Drug Store on Mississippi 42 did confirm the flu vaccine is available at that location.
